This is a guide that explains skills and play styles of the 3 classes for Pvt and 2 for Pfc (250 experience can be earned rather quickly, so you can have that rank after one game), that will act as an supplementing for everthing4me's Beginner guide. Pfc actually offers 3 classes, but the Combat Engineer is really complex, that is why he got his own guide. Rifleman, Navy Corpsman, Flamethrower and Machinegunner are (hopefullyRough explanations may be filled with more precise data over time.

Mos (Military Occupation Speciality) equiped with his weapon: Rifleman, Designated Marksman, AssaultmanEffect: Automatically randomly stabs enemies (assuming more then one target is near you) that enter the range of the knife. Works while moving. Never misses, but spellimmune units aren't affected.Range: 200Damage: 65/secondDamagetype: Magic

Skills: 3 of the rifleman's skill focus on improving his damageoutput, may it be active or passive, the remaining one is the self heal.

Critical Strike

Grants you a chance to critically hit your target. 15 % chance on all levels, damage multiplier increases upon leveling.

Focused Fire

Increases your attackspeed by 20% per Level and decreasing movespeed by 12%. 10 % damage bonus on all levels.You can freely switch between the modes, there is no cooldown

Level 1

20%

Level 2

40%

Level 3

60%

Level 4

80%

Level 5

100%

Light Weapon Training

Increases damage by 3 and reduces reload time by 0,65 seconds per Level.Usually you temporarily lose a bit of sight on reload, when you raise this skill to level 3, this effect does not occur any longer.

Saline IV

After a short delay, your marine regains lost health. At Level 3 open wounds will be cured. At Level 5 minor poisons like oxalic are cured and at Level 7 even the stronger ones can be neutralized. It is the only skill for the rifleman that costs mana.

Level

Health

Time to Administer

1

40

0,75 seconds

2

55

0,75 seconds

3

70

0,75 seconds

4

85

0,75 seconds

5

100

0,75 seconds

6

110

0,7 seconds

7

120

0,7 seconds

The Rifleman is one the three classes avaiable for Privates. Although it is a popular choice by new players, it is not really a very terrific or even useful class. It is basically a class with gunning capabilities, good armour,good hp and a self heal. Okay for beginners, but concerning Colt is unlocked at Pfc you will need to survive for quite some time in the first game, until you receive a weapon for personal defence. That being said a shotgun is your item of choice, if you can get one.

It doesn't really matter what skills you choose, since they are not revelant for your team. They only buff the rifleman. Recommended skillorder:

1. Focused Fire, option to fire faster and you get the 10 % damage bonus.2-4. Saline IV, having the option to heal yourself can be nice to be more independent from a Navy Corpsman and being able to cure open wounds is an additional bonus (if you would like the have the other boni to you might choose to max it out).5-7. Light Weapon Training, for the special effect of Level 3.

From here on it depends on you. It is better to level Critical Strike after you pick up items that grant you this ability for best effects (Last skill/item picked will trigger when several crits/Stuns occur and since Crit Skill can do more damage it is better to take it later), so if you have one or two of them feel free to go ahead.Or you can just level crit without having items that grant Crit/Stun, but don't pick them up afterwards leveling crit.

The Rifleman doesn't offer any teamoriented skills and and his damage output is beaten by several other classes like Machinegunner or Designated Marksman. That is why he is a rare choice in serious games.

Grants you a 10% chance to critically hit your target. The further you level this skill, the higher the damage multiplier up to a maximum of 700%(Rifleman and Infantry Unit Leader have 15% but their max damage multiplier is only 450%).

Field Aid

This skill let you actively heal an organic unit, based on a HP/Mana ratio that can be improved by leveling the skill. In addition the amount of health healed by a medkit that you as Navy Corpsman use is increased by 15 per level.

Level

HP per Second

Bonus HP per Medkit Use

1

2.75

15

2

3.25

30

3

3.85

45

4

4.50

60

5

5.00

75

6

5.50.

90

7

6.00

105

(It works like the Repair Skill, of the Combat Engineer/MQ-3 Predator)Level 3 surpasses Blood Transfusion in matter of Price/Benefit ratio.

Anabolic Steroids

Improves move- and attackspeed of the designated organic target. It is a good idea to boost classes with slow attacks ( Combat Engineer, Delta Operator, Designated Marksman). Boosting classes that already have a high base attackspeed will result in more overkill=waste of ammunition. Manacost on every Level is 30.Auto Cast will automatically boost nearby allied units that engage hostile units in combat with gunfire.

Level

Attackspeed Increase in %

Movespeed Increase in %

Duration in seconds

Cooldown in seconds

1

8

12

45

30

2

11

15

50

25

3

14

18

55

20

4

17

21

60

15

5

20

24

65

10

First Aid Skills

This is the most useful choice for the Navy Corpsman and should always be maxed first. These skills allow you to cure any possible ailment that can occur in the game.

Level

Description

Effect

Cooldown in seconds

Manacost

1

Antivenom

Cures any poisons

6

30

2

Blood Transfusion

Heals 150 over 15 seconds

45

45

3

Cauterize, Mend

Cures open wounds, causes target to loose 15 Hp/fractures

8,10

30,30

4

Vitalssigns, Antibiotics

Let you see medical status of the team, heals the target by 45 hp cures weak poisions increases resistance to ailments by 3%

5/30

2,20

5

Resistance

increases HP regeneration of the NC by 2 and grants a 5% chance to stun a target for 0,5 sec and do additional 25 damage

-

-

The Navy Corpsman is a very teamorientated class, who keeps a squad alive and kicking. She can cure any possible ailment that can occur in the game on your teammates (and yourself) with no or only small drawbacks (Cauterize) and offers various ways to regenerate health. It is a nice class to start with as a beginner, since it is easier to survive when you are the healer in the team. Most ailments have a visual effect, so watch out to see who's wounded or if they move unnaturally slow. In addition pay attention to the chat to see if someone demands a heal/cure. Later on, you can analyse the medical status of the squad easier by using Vital Signs. Damagewise, the Navy Corpsman deals damage similar to the Rifleman, so it isn't a bad shooter at all. The slightly reduced range in comparison to the former mentioned class does not represent a disadvantage at all, since you won't be able to fire at maximum range without the help of tools, skills or items providing extended sight. You can really pump up damage output with a machinegun, if there is no machinegunner around the Navy Corpsman is a good candidate for this weapon. Desert Eagle being unlocked at Corporal means you will be without Sidearm for quite some games, so a shotgun is a good weapon for personal defence, unless you feel really more comfortable with the Grenade Launcher.

Recommended Skill Order, based on what most experienced players choose:

(Note: It is mandatory for every Navy Corpsman Build to level the first 3 tier's of the First Aid Skills, so you will be able to cure all ailments in the game)

Range: 550Damagetype: ChaosBase Damage: 40-50Base HP: 455Base Armour: 8Base Mana: 190Sight (Day): 1300Sight (Night): 1150Additional weapons: NoneSkills: Napalm, Burst Fire, MK-2 Fuel Transmission , FortitudineSpecial: Immortals and Amphisbaena (parasites that can revive) are killed for good when the last strike is performed by a Flamethrower (it does not matter, what kind of weapon or skill does the last hit, it just has to come from the Flamethrower), uses Mana for shooting, is not bound to reload unlike other Mos.

Napalm

Adds damage that burns units close to the firestream, so it is especially useful versus tight crowds of enemies (also works against air units).

Burst Fire

Fires a burst with a large cone with a range around 600. Mana Cost on every Level is 20, Cooldown time 5 seconds.

Level

Damage

Fuel Cost

1

300

15

2

400

20

3

500

25

4

650

30

5

800

35

MK-2 Fuel Transmission

Lowers mana used by the Flamethrower for shooting and increases its range.Level 3 of this skill unlocks a special skill, that can be reached via Marine Actions (Z) to syntesize a small number of fuel (always do as soon as the cooldown is over)

The Flamethrower is another very useful class and in addition very easy to get started with due to high Armour and outstanding close range damage capabilities. You don't have a Colt or a Desert Eagle, but Fire Burst offers a fair trade. It can easily neutralize crowds of creeps of low/medium hp. His damage type is Chaos Damage so his attack is very effective versus anything. Being free of reload means you will be never caught off guard at inopportune times. His armour aura has a fairly large radius and is always a nice backup for your team and yourself in case of massive rushes. Furthermore being able to kill Immortals and later on Amphisbaena for good is a very useful and important trait, because these type of enemies can be a really annoying obstacle to any defensive fire position (camp). Arclite Hecate is your designated primary weapon (2 of them dropped during the first item drop phase). It offers an inbuild Level 3 Burst Fire without the Mana Cost and boost to damage and attackspeed. If you find one take it and never drop it. Since you have a superior personal defence weapon with Burst Fire, you can easily use a Grenade Launcher instead of a Shotgun, if you like.

For a Flamethrower there are no skills that are absolutely "Must Have", but skills have different priorities during the course of the game.

Recommended Skillorder:

(Levels 1 to 4 are the core of almost any Flamethrower Build providing a skill to crowd control early masses of weak creeps and granting access to Fuel Synthesizing)

Level 1 Burst FireLevel 2 MK2- Fuel TransmissionLevel 3 MK2- Fuel TransmissionLevel 4 MK2- Fuel Transmission(If you still feel like it would come in handy to use even less Mana on Shooting and/or having more Range take the remaining Levels of MK2- Fuel Transmission, otherwise you can directly proceed to Napalm/Fortitude)Level 5 MK2- Fuel TransmissionLevel 6 MK2- Fuel Transmission

From here on it pretty much depends on you and the situation which skills further to max first or to alter between.Feel like you need more direct damage? Take some more Burst Fire LevelsTaking to much damage from Rushes? Go FortitudeNeed more passive damage in the front lines? Napalm

Range: 2800Damagetype: PiercingBase Damage: 229-347Base HP: 425Base Armour: 2Base Mana: 200Sight (Day): 1450Sight (Night): 1250Additional weapons: Colt M1911, Combat KnifeSkills: Critical Strike, Monofilament Cartridge, Optical Scope, Muzzle Brake CompressorSpecial: Immortals are killed for good when the last strike is performed by the Designated Marksman (it does not matter, what kind of weapon or skill does the last hit, it just has to come from the Designated Marksman).

Critical Strike

The Marksman's Critical Strike is the only one that raises the critical hit chance, beside damage. Damage increase is lower than that of most other classes, but this is compensated by the high base damage.

Monofilament Cartridge

This is one the most powerful spells in the entire game, when it comes to providing direct damage and/or disabling enemies.Manacost and Cooldown are fixed values ( 30 Mana, 6 Seconds). Damage, stun duration and range increase per on a regular basis per level (the last one is not shown in the skill description). The more you level this skill, the more you get for using your 30 Mana.

Level

Damage

Stun Duration

Range

1

600

1

800

2

1000

2

900

3

1400

3

1000

4

1800

4

1100

5

2200

5

1200

Optical Scope

This skill allows you to to provide a field vision in an area of your choice with a range of 3000. While the scope is activated, you deal more damage, but your attackspeed/movespeed is reduced. Additionally your normal field of vision is temporarily lowered. At level 3 the scope also detects invisible units and provides camouflage. This skill is useful to spot and neutralize targets from range, so use it on places where you know enemies will appear or at least expect them to be there. It is not advised to use this skill, when there is already a huge number of creeps nearby your position or triggered rushes spawn.Cooldown and Duration are set with 6 seconds, meaning you can spam scope as long as you have enough mana. Attackspeed is always reduced by 15% when using this skill.

Level

Damage Bonus

Area of Effect

Movespeed Reduction

Manacost

1

40

800

50

15

2

40

850

45

12

3

40

900

40

10

4

80

950

35

8

5

80

1000

30

5

Muzzle Brake Compressor

This is a passive improvement. You attract less creeps by shooting and you won't miss your target (unless it has some sort of evade). Regular attackspeed/movespeed increase per Level.

The Designated Marksman is the MOS with the highest range and base damage, but also a rather slow attackspeed. His purpose is primarily to kill zulus, but in a different way than a FT or MG. That has pro and cons. When you get rushed, you cannot simply hope that your gunfire will be enough to deal with the threat. This is where (Level 5) Mono comes in. This skill allows you to neutralize massive amounts of ground organical targets in a line. You can really start to shine with it on the incoming waves after boat mission triggered. Despite his high range a Marksman should always be at the front of the action, so he can freely use Mono and doesn't risk a teamkill. Camping with a Marksman is quite easy. He stands at the front and shoots. When too many ground zulus come to close he uses a Mono and the path is clear. Repeat on Demand. In case of emergency /air Zulus there is Colt. The other use of Mono is to stun bosses in conjunction with a Firemission of the Forward Observer to help him hit his target. With 30 Mana Mono is not that cheap to use, so ensure you make ur shots count. On the other hand he won't waste any ammunition and can deal medium splash damage or high single damage. Early on in the game you can easily oneshot weak zulus and get easy multiple kills with splash. Later on in the game you should try to find your critical weapons and level Crit afterwards. When a Critical Strike triggers, splash won't occur. If you need Crowd Control you still have Mono/Colt + a possible secondary weapon at your disposal, and that instant kill on a devourer can be quite nice. Muzzle Brake Compressor is a nice passive buff. Taking the first level for the no miss ability should be a no brainer, it depends on what you get in the game and personal preference if you want to level this further straight away or choose other skills. Personally i am no big fan of Scope and i really don't know where to fit it into a Marksman build. When you want to level it early in the game it means you have to pass up on Mono, which means you have to use more Colt (and Ammo) and lack instant damage/stun, which can already be essential at convoy stage to possibly stun an early spotted Eta. When you want to level it after Mono then you have to forgo about Crit/MBS for quite some time and lack passive damage improvement. Since it reduces your base vision and your attackspeed to gain increased damage and sight on a specific area the usefulness the purpose for combat is to spot targets, which did not enter normal area of sight yet. Which will be a very rare occurence during normal game, since you are constantly attacked by zulus for the major part of the game. In Lost Cause it is indeed useful to spot helicopters and rival Marksman early on, especially with the effects of Level 3 Scope for self protection. In case of camping a hill near town you can also use it to directly attack town guardians. Other than that Scope can help on scouting the map. Due to a bug in LC, you have to skill Scope before chapter change, otherwise the Mana Aura will block the Slot, which is reserved for Scope and you won't be able to use it. The combat knife can be used to finish single weak or heavily damaged zulus to save ammo. When running zick-zack you can often avoid being hit. In addition it is useful for moving, because ur MS is increased by 12 while you wield your combat knife and it can act as "safety mode" to prevent shooting on bosses that will be damaged by a Fire Mission or Transceiver. With field light and Sam'r you have the highest base vision ingame, which allows you to pick off targets before they get into range of your teammates. The combination of Communications Array+ Raven Sentry allows to have permanent vision on areas you would usually have to use sight spells like Flare or Scope on, to further increase this effect. Overall the Designated Marksman is a teamorientated Damage Mos, which has the option of Crowd Control and High Single Target Damage. Plus it is incredibly useful to kill Immortals for good, since their revive ability and their 3 second damage nullify skill followed by that can cause serious problems to a camping squad.

Skill Order for Damage Orientated Marksman:

In case you have DM as MOS then choose Optical Scope beside Mono on Level 1.

Level 1 MonoLevel 2 MonoLevel 3 MonoLevel 4 MonoLevel 5 MonoLevel 6 Muzzle Brake Compressor (When Hades is dead /Moirae spawned and you got preferably Sam'r+AP you are free to skill Crit from here on if you want, otherwise i would level MBS and hope to get this items by the time MBS is Level 5 or earlier)Depending on the Situation and personal preference (for LC reasons you should insert one Level of Scope around this level range, in case you haven't already):Level 7-10 MBSLevel 11-17 Critical StrikeorLevel 7-13 Critical StrikeLevel 14-17 MBSRemaining Levels Optical Scope

Last edited by WedgeAntilles on Thu 24 Nov - 1:25; edited 28 times in total

some people might want you to believe:DON'T PICK THE FUXXING RIFLEMAN RAWWRRR *explodes*

No you can't serisouly got the feeling that it was said like this

*irony*

I like it, but the dog is really hard to manage properly

That pretty much sums it up :O. It is better for new players if they learn right from the start which classes are useful and which are expendable.

Btw Update:

Navy Corpsman and Flamethrower description and strategy part is finished.

Last edited by WedgeAntilles on Fri 8 Apr - 0:01; edited 2 times in total

blsdwarriorPrivate

Messages : 3Activity Points : 2829Reputation : 0

Subject: ft Tue 29 Mar - 21:54

nice work id like to point out that the flamethrower usually survives longer by the moredamage he does. i usually but my skills into burst fire and napalm and use the burst like a shot gun, just be aware it does drain ammo fast.

nice work id like to point out that the flamethrower usually survives longer by the moredamage he does. i usually but my skills into burst fire and napalm and use the burst like a shot gun, just be aware it does drain ammo fast.

eh I'd just pick an ecell for FT it solves the ammo and energy problems most times bey allowing you to generate ammo for your flame bursts via mk and your energy is incredibly hard to drain at that point essentially two birds with one stone so long as you find an ecell

If I'm ever playing Flamethrower, I tend to take Burst Fire and Fortitude, level 5 Burst Fire for 800 Damage seems to be a much more energy and ammo efficient way of dealing damage and usually in 5 < man games there is enough ammunition on the map that you don't need to "make your own" and the ailment / damage resistance can be very useful.

This just in:Don't bother picking MG if you're not going to max concentration first.

MG > all in terms of ammo vs damage output efficiencyA successfull NM game almost always has to have a nonfail MG in it.

MG is available for PFC at 500 xp, so it's a good beginner's choice for every newbie.

your forgetting the class is ridiculously slow and they don't get a sidearm until cpl at 5k xp so it's newbie survivability is rather low in games I've played. usually it's sentries when everyone splits up due to low player count and the mg seems to be one of the casualties :/ poor mg... if only you'd gotten a better pub.

If I'm ever playing Flamethrower, I tend to take Burst Fire and Fortitude, level 5 Burst Fire for 800 Damage seems to be a much more energy and ammo efficient way of dealing damage and usually in 5 < man games there is enough ammunition on the map that you don't need to "make your own" and the ailment / damage resistance can be very useful.

Sounds good in theory, but you cannot entirely avoid shooting stuff, that is where the increased range and the reduced energy loss of Mk2 Fuel Transmission comes in, which combines really well with Napalm. The option to produce a bit extra ammo is rather a nice addon than a core skill.

Update: Marksman part finished.(I am also open for suggestions on skillbuilds, ways how to play a certain MOS, you just have to convince me of their usefulness).